Contents

Angel the Series is a spinoff of Buffy the Vampire Slayer about Buffy's vampire boyfriend, Angel, after his move from Sunnydale to Los Angeles. Because of the shared universe and some characters appearing on both shows, some fans treat the "Buffyverse" as a single fandom. The series ended after five seasons and is being continued as a comic.

Canon

The series started out with three main characters: Angel, Cordelia (from BtVS), and half-demon Doyle. Doyle died mid-season and was replaced by former Watcher Wesley Wyndam-Pryce (also from BtVS). The set up initially involved Angel Investigations, an agency set up to "help the helpless", fight demonic crime, and keep Cordy in sandals. Many early episodes followed the vision quest pattern, with Doyle and then Cordelia receiving a plot-driving vision from the PTB. A prophecy revealed that an ensouled vampire would eventually shanshu, or become, live life, and die as a human, replacing Buffy as Angel's motivation to fight the good fight.

In season 2, the team is joined by sidekick Charles Gunn and geek Fred Burkle, Angel goes "beige", and they all end up in not-so-wonderland. Seasons 3 & 4 moved away from the vision quest format to follow arcs involving Angel's sire Darla, their son Connor, and the vampire hunters Holtz and Justine.

The main antagonist in the early seasons was the law firm Wolfram & Hart; several of its lawyers gained a substantial fannish following, particularly Lindsey McDonald and Lilah Morgan. Season 5 turned things upside down with the AI team heading up Wolfram & Hart. Spike & Harmony joined as majors from BtVS, recurring empathic demon Lorne also stepped up as a major, while Fred became a vessel for the blue Old One Illyria.

Fanfiction

Tropes from early fanfiction for the series include Bring Back Doyle fix-it fic, alternate universes where Angel stays human in the popular episode "I Will Remember You" and is paired with Buffy, and stories about Angel's shanshu. Later writers often focused on the dysfunctional family of Angel, Cordy, & Connor, with the Angel/Cordelia pairing gaining ground over Buffy/Angel. In slash, the buddy pairing Wesley/Gunn was popular, as was Angel/Wesley. After the show ended, much fanfiction was set after the season five finale, "Not Fade Away", often featuring Spike/Illyria.

Notable Authors

Many though not all Angel fanwriters also wrote for Buffy. A few prominent Buffyverse authors particularly associated with Angel include: